


can't fake that sort of passion

by delicateloser



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: M/M, and jealous eddie, pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-27
Updated: 2018-01-27
Packaged: 2019-03-10 04:40:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13495136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delicateloser/pseuds/delicateloser
Summary: eddie becomes jealous when bill kisses beverly in the 3rd grade play.





	can't fake that sort of passion

**E** verything had been fine at the start. Eddie was sure nothing could have possibly ruined his mood. Not even Richie’s teasing, as he poked and prodded at him in his seat; Eddie weakly smacking at his hands until eventually the torture was redirected unto Stan on the boy’s other side. And not even the fact sitting this close to so many people was making him uneasy. And this was because Bill, his very best friend in the entire school, was going to be in the play.

It had been a topic of conversation for months, and Bill had even let Eddie come along a few times to help paint sets, or run lines with him. They always ended up playing tag or hide-and-seek behind the big heavy stage curtains, running and laughing and tickling until Eddie was short of breath, and Bill would remind him to use his inhaler. Bill was really helpful like that. They had been best friends since the first day of kindergarten, and he had never been mean to Eddie about his inhaler. Just like Eddie was never mean to Bill about his stutter. And if anyone else was ever cruel, they had defended one another as if their lives depended on it. When they met Stan, then eventually Richie, the boys fit right in. But Bill and Eddie would always have a bond that was something else.

Eddie looked up to him, more than he’d ever looked up to anyone before. He always knew where to go, or what to do, and there was never a boring moment around him.

But after _little miss_ _Beverly Marsh_ had put her lips on Bill’s in the school play, Eddie had been avoiding him like he had the plague.

He remembered the night in question well. Bill looking so great in his costume up on stage, delivering the lines they had practiced together smoothly, no stutter. “ _Nice tights_!” He remembered Richie shouting. Eddie had elbowed him so hard that the trashmouth doubled over, an ’ _Eds!_ ’ escaping his lips between laughter. He ignored him. He tried to focus on the play. But it wasn’t long before he had heard Richie and Stan whisper to each other.

“ _Is this the kiss scene?_ ”

“ _I think so._ ”

See, Bill had never told Eddie about the kiss. In all the time they had rehearsed and run lines together, there was never a kiss. That was something you told your friends about, wasn’t it? _Especially_ your best friend. Richie and Stan knew. But Eddie didn’t.

He remembered the way it had felt like his world was crashing down around him when their lips met. It was for literal seconds. But those few seconds were enough to make Eddie’s stomach flip. Next to him Richie had been whistling, whooping, and being a general nuisance. Eddie left before the play even ended.

He felt like he couldn’t breathe, and no amount of desperate puffs from his inhaler were fixing it. His chest felt tight. He wondered if he was dying, never having felt heartache or jealousy prior to this. He felt tears burn in his eyes, and he called his mom to pick him up. He suddenly didn’t want to be at the sleepover tonight. His mom would call Bill’s mom and tell her he had gotten sick.

Bill had no knowledge yet of his best friend’s’ disappearance. He wiggled his bouquet of flowers playfully at a giggling baby Georgie in his mother’s arms, only to look confused when Richie and Stan ran up to join him without the shorter boy in tow. “Eddie?” He asked first thing, and they glanced at each other before they looked at him and shrugged.  
  


* * *

  
**I** t had been three days since the play, and three days since Bill had spoken to Eddie for more than a minute outside of class. The shorter boy kept finding excuses to get out of the conversation. He had been trying to figure out what he had done wrong, and the answer was made very obvious when Richie appeared at lunch. Well, obvious to Bill. The boys were sitting at their table like any other day, although Eddie’s usual spot beside Bill was occupied by Stan. Eddie was about as far from him as the table would allow.

“Guys, guys, get a load of this,” Richie said, holding the school paper in his hands, “they mention the kiss in here! Check it out, Big Bill.” He thrust the paper into his face, and Bill took a moment to find the review. He didn’t miss the way Eddie was instantly looking at them, a distant sort of hurt in his expression. It was something about the kiss, perhaps. “You’re like a celebrity!” Richie brought him back out of his thoughts, and Bill laughed a bit nervously as he pushed the newspaper away.

“Was just a silly p-puh-play, Rich.” He replied, getting a pout in return. He could feel Eddie’s eyes on him still, as if trying to gauge his reaction to the words when they were about him and Beverly. _Can’t fake that sort of passion._ Was Eddie trying to figure out if it had been a _real kiss_ after all?  
  


* * *

  
**A** fter school, Bill finally confronted him. It wasn’t easy to get him alone, but once Richie had taken off, calling back a “See you later, Eds!”, he moved his bike around the front of Eddie’s to make him have to stop. Eddie tried to go around him, and Bill moved to block him again. The smaller boy groaned in frustration.

“ _What_?” He asked, and Bill gave him a pointed look. “If I don’t get home in time, my mom is going to-”

“Eddie, p-puh-please. You have to tell me w-what’s wrong, or I can’t ap-pologise.” Bill said, studying him carefully. Eddie shrank into himself a bit under Bill’s gaze.

It seemed like forever before he spoke.

“I didn’t know you were going to kiss her,” he said, dropping his own eyes to the pavement in his embarrassment, cheeks pink. “I… the kiss, it wasn’t in the script we read.”

“You and I c-couldn’t rehearse that p-part, Eddie.” Bill told him.

“Why not?” Eddie looked back up to meet his eyes again, and the question combined with such an accusatory look caused the taller boy’s face to flush.

“Because I would have had to.. k-k.. _kiss_ you, Eddie.” He practically whispered the last few words of his answer, fingers tapping the handlebar of his bike before wrapping around it again. Eddie was still staring at him with the same expression.

“But you kissed her.” He stated. “Do you like her?”

Bill shook his head, ‘no’. “It was just for the p-part.” He reminded him.

“Do you like me?” Eddie continued, seeming to have no issue asking these blunt questions that nearly knocked Bill over with nervousness.

“Of c-course I like you, Eddie.”

“Then I want you to kiss me.” The short and innocent seeming boy’s confidence was startling. Bill opened his mouth to speak, before shutting it again when nothing came out; twisting at the rubber handlebar in his palm. Eddie dropped his bike now, stepping a bit closer to Bill, who backed up and nearly knocked his own on it’s side too.

“R-right now??” Bill asked, and Eddie gave a short nod, stopping in front of him, and staring up at him with those ridiculously large brown doe eyes. Bill could make out every freckle on his pale face, his own breath caught in his throat. The other boy’s eyes fluttered shut, and Bill remembered he was anticipating a kiss. He licked over his own lips since they were suddenly unbelievably dry. His eyes lowered then to Eddie’s lips.

“Bill?” Eddie asked, his voice soft, and Bill just couldn’t deny him. He leaned down to close the distance between them, pressing his lips against his friend’s. One of Bill’s hands held the bike in place, while the other traveled to find Eddie’s waist, clutching at the fabric of his shirt. He felt the boy’s soft hands move up to hold onto the front of his own flannel. The kiss wasn’t long, and it was obvious that it was (for all intents and purposes) both of their first real kisses. And when they pulled back they stared at one another, faces flushed.

“See you t-tomorrow, Eddie,” Bill said suddenly, moving and nearly knocking the bike down again. He struggled to get back onto it a little clumsily, and Eddie giggled at this as he stepped back. He hadn’t missed the dark blush in Bill’s cheeks. “Bye, Bill.” He murmured as if he were in a daze, and when the taller boy finally began to ride, he glanced back at Eddie over his shoulder. The other still hadn’t moved. Instead he was standing there, hearts in his eyes, fingers on his lips as he seemed almost completely stuck. Eddie only had one thought, repeating over and over in his head: he had been kissed by Bill Denbrough.


End file.
